Blooming Prairie Double Murder Suspect Arrested in Texas

Mantorville, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Dodge County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed the arrest of Lois Riess. Media reports in Texas indicate the 56-year-old Blooming Prairie woman was captured on Thursday in the South Padre Island area, ending a nearly month-long manhunt that has attracted worldwide attention.

Riess had been on the run since March 23rd when Dodge County Deputies conducting a welfare check found her husband dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the couple’s rural Blooming Prairie home. It’s still unclear when he was killed, but Dodge County officials say it could have been as much as two weeks before his body was discovered.

It was later learned Lois Riess had visited a Casino in north Iowa the same day her slain husband was found before she traveled to southern Florida and allegedly murdered a 59-year-old woman at a Fort Myers condominium. Investigators in Florida described her as a cold-blooded killer who chose her victim in order to steal her identity, along with her money and car.

Prior to the news of her capture in Florida, Riess had been tracked to Corpus Christi, Texas by the U.S. Marshal’s Service elevated the manhunt for her to Major Case status and offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to her arrest. The federal agency also placed billboards along freeways in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California to publicize the search for the Minnesota woman.

Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose says he plans to release additional information about the capture of Riess Friday morning.